The Great Naked Battle for the Gazebo

This little gem comes from Grumpy Eleanor of Aquitaine on Facebook. My apologies for not knowing the original source. Grumpy Eleanor doesn’t list them. Often I can Google them, but finding appropriate keywords for this one is difficult. I am guessing it’s a 15th century something.

Rarely is there so much win in a single image. First, the similarity to the illustrations of Where the Wild Things Are are pretty epic. Second, I truly appreciate the defender’s sense of decorum requires a hood but considers pants to be entirely optional.

Third, they aren’t actually fighting on a gazebo, but that’s totally my first impression, and it dovetails into a joke I am pretty sure every D&D player my age knows. If you’re not familiar with it, you can read the full tale (it’s not long). In short, the party encounters a gazebo, and a player thinks “gazebo” is a type of monster. As such, he sneaks up on it, studies it, shoot at it, and finally attempts to run away in fear, at which point the frustrated GM announces: “Too late. The gazebo eats you.”

What he’s actually standing on is a pulpit like you would find in a church, so this might well be religious commentary. However, interpreting marginalia is complex, and part of its nature may be simple absurdity.

Then there’s the strawberries. According to Wikipedia, strawberries were not cultivated until the 18th century. Previous to that they only grew in the wild, which goes with the theme of, perhaps, the chaotic wilderness threatening the establishment. Although that certainly does not explain the man without pants, who is also clearly not a priest.

Fourth, the shield. There are thousands upon thousands of heraldic symbols, so I am not at all surprised that I can’t immediately find it. It’s possible it’s not even real. The closest I found was that of the Finck von Finckenstein family, which is totally not the one being used here. It is, however, one of the more awesome names ever. Anyone looking for a steampunk name? I’ve got one for you.